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My creative goals for 2015

If you’d asked me about creative goals three or four years ago, I would have laughed in your face. “I am not creative; I prefer things with straight lines in black and white,” I would have said.

My understanding of creativity has changed over time, and now I see creativity in diagramming a sentence and writing HTML, in the way I live my life and go through my days.

But the funny part is that as my understanding of creativity grew and changed, so did my desire to pursue more “typical” creative pursuits.

It started with the 101 Days of Christmas series, which has led to me trying all kinds of new activities and crafts, but it’s even stretched beyond that.

After a year of debating with myself, I started piano lessons in the fall (our teacher is a saint who comes to our house and gives five lessons all in a row for me and the girls!).

And this summer I stumbled across Stephanie Corfee’s site and decided to take up doodling and hand lettering as well, not just on the edge of my phone pad and the envelopes of birthday cards (which is how my dad always did it), but to really learn the skills involved and embrace it as an art form.

This year, I want to be intentional about embracing that side of creativity by setting a few simple creative goals:

1. Piano

I am still learning to read bass clef, and I’d like to master that in 2015. I’d also like to be able to confidently add chords to melodies and use my pedal while playing with both hands (while I may have embraced my creative side, I am still not what one would call coordinated!).

Piano is definitely the creative pursuit where I’m making the most progress on a regular basis, since I don’t want to let our piano teacher down by not progressing between lessons. I’m not sure how to bring that same accountability (which is less about the money spent and more about her expectations of me) to other creative pursuits.

I’d like to make my kids prints of their names for Christmas so that I’ll have a definitive goal to work toward.

3. Crocheting

I’ve enjoyed a few simple crochet projects in my time—a baby blanket, a garland of shamrocks, etc.—but I’d love to improve my skills enough to complete a few more projects.

Part of my challenge here is that the time when I could be crocheting, like while watching TV in the evening, usually includes Jackson crawling all over me! But I also get stuck on stitches and following a pattern, so I need to set aside some time to master a few of the basics.

4. Baking

I went through a phase of making fun food and creative cupcakes for the girls, but for some reason I stopped—I’m sure because I let my limited skill set discourage me.

That said, I’d like to make all of the girls’ birthday cakes/cupcakes this year with really fun designs, and I’m hoping to use the skills from the brand new Cookies for the Seasons ebook from Bridget at Bake at 350 and Cake Decorating with Modeling Chocolateplus The Perfect Cupcake course from Craftsy to learn a few new things about decorating cakes, cupcakes and cookies as well!

5. Sewing

Finally, I know just enough about sewing to get myself in trouble. I made the girls a set of diapers, bibs, burpcloths and diaper bags for Christmas one year, and I’ve sewn things like crib sheets before, but I tend to rush through projects and look for shortcuts rather than doing them “right.”

As a member of the Ultimate Bundles team, I will freely admit that I’m biased, but I can honestly say that over the past three months—as I’ve been reviewing ebooks, chatting with authors and putting together the Getting Started Guide for this bundle—I have been inspired again and again to try something new, to stretch, to create for the sake of creating without worrying about perfection.

It’s an insanely practical bundle, with projects for every skill set and level from top DIY bloggers. Learn to use chalk pastels and to create homemade skincare products, to take amazing photos and edit them quickly and easily, to transform a thrift store find and paint furniture.

And you’ll also get both of my 101 Days of Christmas ebooks, with more than 200 simple ideas, crafts and recipes for the holidays.

A few things you should know about me: I'm a wife and mother of 6, as well as a full-time work-at-home mom, a passionate entrepreneur, a homeschooler, and an INTJ, with a heavy emphasis on the introvert! And I'm pretty sure fair-trade chocolate, loose leaf tea, and Starbucks lattes are among life's greatest pleasures.